1 million take part in Barranquilla carnival

Barranquilla authorities said Wednesday that the city’s carnival drew more than a million people between Friday and Tuesday.

In its final balance of the city’s most important cultural event of the year, the Barranquilla police department said that no major incidents took place that were related to the festivities and praised “the increasingly good behavior of the people of Barranquilla which was replicated by the Colombian and international tourists.”

According to the police, an increase in tourists was reported and the city’s hotels reported a 100% occupancy rate.

A National Police spokeswoman told Colombia Reports that during the four days of the festival eight people were killed, but “these cases did not take place at the carnival. At the carnival there was not a single homicide or problem.”

The police report did state that 80 people were arrested, and that seven guns and 300 knives were seized.

Barranquilla’s carnival is one of Colombia’s most important cultural events of the year and recognized as world cultural heritage by UNESCO.